The Role of Revolutionaries

[Bilan]

What do comrades here consider the role of revolutionaries to be in periods such as the one we find ourselves in (or generally, even)?

Obviously, there will be divergence in theories, but I want to see what different revolutionaries on here consider as the appropriate role for revolutionaries.

[Ricardo]

I'd say raise class consciousness and try to organize.

[Bilan]

Organise what and how? Develop class consciousness how?

[Il Medico]

(Note everything below is talking about America)

I'd say the main thing is to talk to people. Attempt to break down the lies they've grown up with. Now is an especially good time to do so imo as people are questioning capitalism and the government. We need to get in the public eye and be able to attempt to dispell the cold war nonsense that most Americans believe. If we can get even a few workers to say "hey, that doesn't sound as bad as all that" and look more into what communism, socialism and anarchism is, rather than listening to Fox news or other propaganda machines, then it would be a small victory. That combined with increased organizing among Leftist groups should help create a stronger left here. However, right now we are utterly failing and allowing the right wing "populist" groups to really hijack the situation with their nonsense.

[Q]

I'd say our roles are:

- Agitate: Discuss with individuals or groups of people, at work or in demonstrations, about a communist alternative. Don't only talk, listening is as important as talking, if not more. Relate to the situation people are living in, offer them an alternative vision.
- Educate: Open en transparent discussion among communists as well as intervening in debates and discussions (this overlaps with agitation, depending on the type of discussion). The point here is to raise political awareness, not so much to recruit for this or that grouplet.
- Organise: The important thing here is, again, not organisation is this or that grouplet - a sectarian attitude - but to strive to organise the class as a class. Be part of the movement in whatever role you deem yourself suitable in (union rep, "entryism" in a broader party, independent activist, etc). Strive for non-sectarian organisation: reach out to all activists, wherever they may be active (even if you consider that particular organisation to be "bourgeois" or whatever).

The crucial question most inhere mix up is not so much "how can I help to create a great communist party" (or whatever), but rather "how can the revolutionary organisation I'm a member of help me in my daily work as a (for example) union rep? How does me being a member of communist party x, y or z enrich my union work?".

If your main goal as an activist is to build your party x, y or z, then you have a sectarian mindset and are nothing but a dead weight to the movement. If however your party/organisation strives to reach out to workers in a helpful way, aid them in their struggle, then you're actually of use.

Another aspect to this is the splintering as a result of the sectarian mindset. Because everyone wants to build support for their great programme, no actual mass organisation happens. True unity will only happen if we accept the reality that unity will only work on the basis of diversity. Humans are different, have different views, experiences, skills, etc.

Therefore I think another important task of communists and other leftwing activists is to actively engage and fight the sectarianism within our ranks and strive to unity of the far left. Unity on the basis of the acceptance that we will always have disagreements, but these in themselves have no basis for organisational disunity.

[A.R.Amistad]

I think everyone here has said the main things when it comes to dealing with individual people. The first thing you should do is make sure that you join a revolutionary political organization and genuinely seek to build it, support it and carry out its program. The next thing to do is to get involved with the progressive mass movements that are going on today. Many, if not most of these mass movements, will seem reactionary and bourgeois. They certainly will have elements of tat to a certain degree but the idea is to be able to combat those within te mass organization. For example, you could get involved with the United Farm Worker's (UFW) and help build their organization. UFW has a lot of ties to the democrats but you could help combat that. Go to local college campuses and look for some vibrant youth organizations around progressive topics, such as Palestinian Justice, anti-Sweatshop Labor, general workers' rights, environmentalism, etc. and seek to inject a revolutionary current within it. Do so respectfully and patiently, and be willing to calmly and soberly explain how te contradictions of the capitalist system are irreconciliable. I think there are a lot of good people with the potential to become revolutionaries, but they just haven't been exposed to us because we haven't been in mass movements. Also, when I say "mass movements," make sure you don't get swept up in reactionry bourgeois electoral campaigns. Be strict about what you support: support only issues and policies, not non-revolutionary people. The idea is to raise consciousness. Overall I think (sorry to make an argument ad Lenin again) Lenin said two things that you should adhere to during all times to be a revolutionary:

Lenin

The tasks of the youth brigades in general can be summed up in one word...learn.


It is not difficult to be a revolutionary when revolution has already broken out and is in spate, when all people are joining the revolution just because they are carried away, because it is the vogue, and sometimes even from careerist motives. It is far more difficult—and far more precious—to be a revolutionary when the conditions for direct, open, really mass and really revolutionary struggle do not yet exist.

[YKTMX]

I always think of myself as aspiring to be a revolutionary. It's easy for anyone to adopt the title revolutionary without thinking about what such a perspective neccessitates in the world of day-to-day practice.

A correct revolutionary perspective is not one that simply attaches itself parasitically to the struggles of the oppressed for dignity and justice but grows organically out of those struggles. As such, the struggle for a revolutionary perspective is reflexive, not abstract. It is rooted in real historical experience or it is just dogma. It is something that emerges as part of the totality of the social process. In other words, we should approach each struggle unsure as to what the revolutionary perspective is, but certain about the methods of ascertaining it.

The goal of the those aspiring to be revolutionary socialists is to struggle alongside and within the broad movements for dignity and justice in a way that attempts to knit together the different struggles, bring out their common elements in their theory and generalize them in practice.

In the current climate, this means uniting the movements against war, poverty, financial crisis, ecological catastrophe, racism and attacks on the welfare state without compromising the internal 'unity' of each of these struggles. This requires, on the one hand, a theoretically open approach, and a revolutionary organization rooted in the struggles.

Also, I agree with almost everything the two comrades above have said, although I would place a slightly greater influence on the role of the Party, only to the extent that I think that 'education' conducted by individuals is less effective than the 'education' provided by large groups of people united by a common perspective and engaged in conscious and co-ordinated socialist politics.

[brigadista]

live to fight another day.....

[cenv]

I agree with the things that have been said so far, but I think "revolutionaries" also have a theoretical role that's often overlooked. Implicit in the understanding that revolutionary theory is a method is the realization that we need to consciously adapt it to the material conditions we face. Often we fall into the trap of seeing theory as a rigid intellectual structure that's outside of our daily experiences and struggles, but to develop a coherent and effective praxis we need to clarify the relation between theory and practice -- or to dissolve it so the two are inseparable.

I think this is one of the reasons revolutionary work in this day and age tends to feel a lot like banging one's head against a brick wall. Although we may understand the broader significance of our actions, we explain our theoretical base so clumsily that most people either see our actions as isolated acts or reject our theoretical platforms outright. So instead of taking the theoretical aspect of our work as a given, we need to fill the theoretical void of our times by adapting our core principles to the material conditions we're facing, understanding which aspects of our theory speak most to people today, and realizing the interdependence of theory and practice.

Only by letting the material conditions we face give rise to a dynamic revolutionary theory will we be able to build a movement that empowers the working-class as a whole. Otherwise, we will only be performing isolated acts in the name of forgotten ideologies.

[Devrim]

If we were on an anarchist site, somebody would have posted point 7 from Solidarity's 'As we See It' by now.

Devrim

[elf]

If we were on an anarchist site, somebody would have posted point 7 from Solidarity's 'As we See It' by now.

Devrim


7. Meaningful action, for revolutionaries, is whatever increases the confidence, the autonomy, the initiative, the participation, the solidarity, the equalitarian tendencies and the self -activity of the masses and whatever assists in their demystification. Sterile and harmful action is whatever reinforces the passivity of the masses, their apathy, their cynicism, their differentiation through hierarchy, their alienation, their reliance on others to do things for them and the degree to which they can therefore be manipulated by others - even by those allegedly acting on their behalf. libcom.org/library/as-we-see-it-solidarity-group
Umm, interesting. I'm not sure if I can fully agree with the statement however.
The role of revolutionaries is to educate about, agitate for, radical and revolutionary ideas.
The role of revolutionaries is, as much as is possible, to put into practice their revolutionary and radical ideas; both in their own lives, and their own organisations.

In other words, we fight for what we want, and we try and act as if we already have it.

[Devrim]

libcom.org/library/as-we-see-it-solidarity-group
Umm, interesting. I'm not sure if I can fully agree with the statement however.

Neiether can I. It is just something that anarchists habitually post when questions like this come up on discussion forums.

Devrim

[gramscilives]

I'd say that the role we should play is in creating safe spaces for social behavior. Capitalism promotes anti-social behavior and individualism. This is not to say that every recreational group is inherently revolutionary or anti-capitalist, but that we should be striving to create collective businesses and neighborhoods to counter hegemonic capitalist culture and give people an environment which encourages collectivism, community and solidarity.

[Joesky]

To hand out thousands upon thousands of Flyers :lol:

[HammerAlias]

The revolutionaries and revolutionary party are essential to the initiation and completion of the revolution. However, the trick is getting them to dissipate afterward. The revolutionary and revolutionary party should only exist to inspire, organize and mobilize the masses.

[AK]

If the role of revolutionaries is to develop class consciousness in the proletariat and peasantry, then the means to meet this end would include:


Agitprop (and shitloads of it). This includes handing out flyers and putting up a ton of posters (in a public place where the workers can see them, of course).
Protesting. A fuckton of protesting.
Organising and recruiting within businesses, unions and wherever the fuck it is that you can find peasants. Revolutionaries must never distance themselves from the working class and peasantry - rather, they must always be close by them and supportive of them.

[RED DAVE]

I think, unfortunately, it is extremely telling that not until the 16th post of this thread did someone mention "unions" and even then in a subordinate postion to "business."

Any strategies developed in advanced industrial countries, especially the US, that do not involve union struggles and struggles for the control of unions represent, in my opinion, a level of ignorance about the working class, its organization[s] and how its struggles that is staggering.

RED DAVE

[fp5858]

I think, unfortunately, it is extremely telling that not until the 16th post of this thread did someone mention "unions" and even then in a subordinate postion to "business."

Any strategies developed in advanced industrial countries, especially the US, that do not involve union struggles and struggles for the control of unions represent, in my opinion, a level of ignorance about the working class, its organization[s] and how its struggles that is staggering.

RED DAVE

In the United States, the last 70 years have been just an assault on organized labor and the middle class in general, therefore it should be an imperative that revolutionaries use grass roots efforts to encourage labor organization. We must change the public perception that labor organizations are outdated or "something need 100 years ago". Too many people are thinking through a bourgeois mindset and/or bourgeois ethics and ignore the realities of their situations.